Throughout their lengthy career, Candlemass has shown various faces. Well, what do you expect when your sound is very vocal-driven and you change vocalist on numerous occasions in your career? When Messiah left/got kicked out of the band in '06, they quickly introduced the -other- guy with the dazzling voice - Robert Lowe. Known for his works with the long-running Solitude Aeturnus, there were no doubts concerning his skills, but still their first album together felt a little uncomfortable and lacking in chemistry.

Agreed.awesome album,for me Messiah Marcolin was way better but Rob Lowe isn't bad,i l like his vocals.
I like the heaviness how they manage to explore the boundaries of doom metal,coming to close to heavy metal.
Reminds me of their holyness Black Sabbath,I think there should be more bands like Candlemass nowadays

Out of all the most recent Candlemass albums (I mean their self-titled and onwards), this is probably the one which reminds me of the band's early era the most. It's probably the keyboard effects and brooding heaviness of songs such as 'If I ever die' or 'The bleeding baroness', but this really is a more retro style album for the band. The vocals I don't think are as convincing as Marcolin's ever were, but then this is merely a minor comparison. It's a shame that the band have now split up, but at least they left us a multitude of great albums in their wake.